"Consider the Lilies of the Field"

 “Consider the Lilies of the Field”

In Celebration of the Life of Bill Graham

A Meditation by Fr. Paul Bresnahan

Matthew 6:25-29 ~“Consider the Lilies of the Field”

‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

“Consider the Lilies of the Field”

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow”.

This Gospel was written for an occasion like this.

Bill Graham spent a lifetime making things beautiful. He dedicated all that he had and all that he was so that he could scatter comfort and joy all around the North Shore well beyond anyone’s ability to calculate or measure. What a blessing he was to us. 

Even now I imagine him in a field of flowers gathering up a bouquet for his beloved. But that’s the friend and the priest in me talking. I can’t imagine anything better, unless, of course it were a shop on Essex Street in Salem. That really was lovely.

“Beautiful Things”. That’s what he called the shop. And it was exactly that. You could stop by anytime and there he was out back, surrounded by a grand clutter of flowers and greens and vases and what not of every manner under heaven. And by some miracle he’d pull things from hither and yon and voilà: there was something very beautiful indeed; a bouquet for the eyes and the nose and something about it all moved us to love.

That’s because Bill loved us. And so does Phil. In our particular case, when Cindy and I fell in love and married, Bill prepared the flowers for the wedding. Those flowers adorned the altar at Christ Church, Hyde Park on October 13,1979. And Phil sang. It was a glorious and unforgettable day! Thank you both!

Day in and day out. Year in and year out, you could count on Bill to be there and Phil too ready to greet you with warmth and affection Whatever the occasion, all you had to do was call in and tell Bill what you needed and he would go straight to work, his hands a blur and out of a menagerie of living things he’d gather another bouquet and prepare something special just for you.

So it was for many unforgettable days and special occasions for so many people. It could be the birth of a child, a wedding or an anniversary, the illness of a fried, the death of a loved one, a gesture of kindness, an expression of love, a request for forgiveness. You could always stop by or call in, and Bill was on it. Before you knew it there they were, delivered by my friend Phil. My best friend Phil. What a delight it was to to open the door and see that smile and those flowers.

Talk about beautiful things!

Thank you Bill

Thank you Phil

What a precious thing is life, friendship, love!

And family. I feel like I know you all well. You included Bill in all those Holidays; Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter and so on. Phil described those days to me in detail. In infinite detail. He knows every name, every important day in your lives, every school and workplace, every joy and sorrow. He loves every single one of you and so did Bill.  You made Bill family to you. Your kindness and love meant everything to him.

Thank you all. 

And to all his friends too many to number. How often you would stop by in the store just to say hello. You are a tribute to him and thank you for being here. I know how much you cared for him because I know how much he cared for you. 

Every single flower and every single one of us he touched spoke of that love. Not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as even one of these.

And then there came the illness. Even then he resolutely continued making beautiful things for as long as he could at the shop, in public speaking engagements, then at home. Only weeks ago he was baking cookies, doing needlepoint. Always something to make this old world a little more beautiful. 

The day he died, I visited Bill one last time. He was in extremis so I stayed with him for some time and said some prayers from my Celtic Prayer Book. I recited some lines from Morning Prayer

“One thing have I asked of the Lord. This is what I seek. 

That I may dwell in House of the Lord all the days of my life.

To behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his Holy Temple."

I have no idea whether he heard me or not but it always puts me at ease to pray. And besides the words seemed fitting.

I got up to leave but just then my buddy Phil arrived with some flowers, naturally. We visited. A kindly woman stopped by with a Golden Retriever named Rosie. It was delightful. Finally, I asked one last blessing: “The Peace of God which passes all understanding” Later that night Phil posted a picture of the seashore; “Good night my handsome” it said.

What next my friends? The priest in me must now speak to our faith as well as to our skepticism in all honesty, in all truth, and with a note of authority. 

You know my story Phil. You know what my grandmother said about all this. When my dad died at Christmas in 1953 I was only 8 years old. I wanted to know if I’d ever see him again. The “christians” in the family said my dad couldn’t go to heaven because he didn’t go to church. Thank God my uncle was an atheist. He told me not to worry because he said my dad would get to heaven a whole lot sooner than anybody in that crowd would.

My grandmother was the authority in the family on all matters theological. After all, she was the one who sent me to church.

So I asked her

“Ma, is there a God?"

“Of course there is” she said

“Ma, is there a Heaven?”

“Of course there is” she said.

Then I said; “Ma, Is my daddy there?” 

Ah there was a moment’s hesitation. After all she was a Yankee from Downeast Maine and my dad was an Irishman from Butman St in Beverly. And there was that nasty divorce. The prospect of spending an eternity with that man must have given her pause.

A lot was riding on what she did next. 

I remember it like it was yesterday

She knelt down right there on the kitchen floor in Somerville and held me close and said;

“Of course he is”

Because of that here I am today to proclaim the power of love over death whether we believe it or not, understand it or not.

There is a special place in God’s heart for Bill.

For you and me. For all. No exceptions. 

To prove it, here I am to embrace you with these words.

So consider the lilies of the field how they grow. From the dust of the earth they rise and live again. And not even Solomon in all his glory is arrayed as even one of these. That’s not just my uncle or my grandmother or me talking. That’s Jesus.

“Good night Bill”

“See you on the other side”

“Amen”.

In the Name of God, the Most Holy, Undivided and Everlasting Trinity. 

Amen.

It's Complicated

It’s Complicated

Today’s Gospel takes us to that complicated place where family dynamics occur. It all begins when the younger son took his inheritance to set out on his new life. Aha! Free at last from the constrains of family obligation and tiresome rules. Now he was in charge. Apparently, he sowed a few wild oats and squandered the inheritance. A famine set in and he began to be in want. Ultimately he came to himself and realized that if he returned home and threw himself on the mercy of his father there might be a chance for him to be treated at least as well as one of the servants.

But the father’s abundant love was more than generous. It was extravagant. It was like God’s love for a sinner who returns to God; it was Eucharistic! Bring the best robe, the fatted calf and a celebration fitting for the joys of heaven.

However, the father’s unconditional love was problematic for the older brother, and with some justification. He spoke right up; you’re throwing a party for this ne’er do well son of yours, and you’ve never so much as done anything like it for me and my friends.  

Many of us have been in that position; the position of a sibling who looks resentfully at our own blood brother or sister. There is something deeply out of synch here. If it isn’t resentment, there’s something else that tears at the fabric of the relationship, to the point that the damage done may be irreparable.

How is the father to convince his older son that such generosity of spirit is the way to forgiveness? Some say this parable is about the extravagant love of the father. God knows fathers and mothers often want nothing more than for everybody in the family to get along. When the father realized that the older brother refused to extend that same generosity of spirit, he  came out and began to plead with him; come in and join the festivities.”

But the older brother was angry. He refused.

“The father said, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

Besides, too much anger is not good for us; as the old saying goes; “Anger is the punishment we inflict upon ourselves for someone else’s mistake”.

We are left to wonder; was there reconciliation? Or was the family finally and irrevocably torn apart. Each of us is left to complete the story as we live out our lives in our own family relationships. I’ve seen the story go on in so many ways.

To see the Gospel in its fullness I invite you to see yourself in each of the roles being played out in the parable. A father or a mother who pleads to keep the family together.

Likewise the sinner who comes to his/her senses and asks for forgiveness. The Psalmist says; “Happy are those whose sins are forgiven”. Tragically, there are those who never do come to their senses; making forgiveness problematic.

And there are those, who like the older brother, are faithful and diligent; it is as though they are taken for granted. Whers’s their party? 

The parent, the sinner, or the older brother; which are you? Or have you been all of the above at one time or another? 

It's complicated. When Jesus tells us this parable he confronts us with the predicament we often find ourselves in as we seek to love, forgive and reconcile. 

I’m reading a wonderful book now by Tara Westover called “Educated”. A woman grows up in an abusive family. Her father, mother and brothers leave permanent scars during her formative years. She grew up in a family with undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. She had to battle with all her might to extricate herself from the abuse. For those who work with victims of abuse, we know how difficult that work is. The statistics are not encouraging. It is like tearing part of your soul in half to come to terms with your parents and siblings especially when the abuse is so traumatic, persistent and systemic in formative years. 

And yet, if you can come to terms with your family of origin you can take on the world. Especially with your mother, father and siblings; if you can deal with them, you can free yourself from the slavery of repeating the same sins and offenses with those you become responsible for. Being human, you’ll probably think up new ones!

A Christian psychotherapist once shared this vision of mental health; “Our challenge is to love God first, love your neighbor as yourself beginning with your parents, and at the same time discover how to love yourself like God loves you.” That’s a spiritual challenge that takes a lifetime.

For all too many the challenge is to stand up for yourself without allowing yourself to be dragged back into the old family dynamic of mental illness. Easier said than done! 

In today’s parable the father, the younger son and the older brother faced it. All parents, children and siblings face similar challenges. Forgiveness does not come cheaply. We must work at it. And it is very hard work indeed.

All of which brings us back to the ministry of reconciliation. It is a ministry we are given by virtue of our faith. Jesus spent untold hours in conversation with his disciples. In today’s Epistle, Paul points to this ministry; “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

It's complicated.

How in heaven’s name are we to be reconciled to one another? 

In our families, with friends, at work, and God help us in political and international relationships?

Jesus points us toward unconditional love, and extravagant forgiveness. If there is to be a heaven it will have to begin with us. Jesus said: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”. “The kingdom of heaven is within you.” “The kingdom of heaven is among you.” 

Sin is easy. For there to be the kingdom of heaven we will have to work at being open to the miracles of love, forgiveness and reconciliation.

It's complicated. 

Like the children of Israel as they wandered aimlessly forty years in the wilderness,. Moses had to come up with 613 laws to get them to the Promised Land. They kept thinking up dumb things to do. Moses was just about fed up with that crowd. But God fed them with the bread of angels; Manna from heaven. When they arrived at Gilgal; an interesting place with yet another mini-Stonehenge like stone circle, the manna ceased.

When Jesus breaks bread with us at God’s Altar, he invites us to recognize that something is broken in each of us. Perhaps something in your family of origin has probably left a scar. Live long enough and you will have a plenty more scars to show for it. Jesus came to heal those very scars. Jesus healed the lame, the blind, and the deaf. And the scars in our souls he healed when he taught us the way to love and forgiveness. Or when he reached out to the poor, the heartbroken, the persecuted, and the marginalized. This kind of unconditional love, this extravagant forgiveness that he so freely shared with everyone, this ministry of reconciliation that he entrusted to us was to change the world.

Frequently, he took bread, blessed and broke it, likewise after supper he took the cup and did the same. He became the Bread of Heaven for us. At this altar rail, he feeds us with the healing touch of eternal life.

Jesus did not escape unscathed from this world; he wore scars into the Resurrection Life. Jesus also took that which is complicated and made it simple. 

“Love one another”. 

“Forgive one another”.

“Be reconciled to one another”.

With the Bread of Heaven he feeds us at this Altar Rail and rejoices as we live our our lives with earthly love, forgiveness, and reconciliation both to humankind and to God. For the more we practice the one, the more we live into the other. 

God’s love is extravagant; for each and every one there is the finest robe, bring on the fatted calf; let the Eucharistic festivities begin; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.

Fr Paul

The Perfect Christmas

The Perfect Christmas!

In my mind’s eve Christmas is always perfect. 

I picture a large fireplace, stockings hung on the mantle, a Christmas tree with an abundance of presents, and a large happy family filled with laughter and joy on Christmas Eve and when morning dawns. One surprise after another announces how thoughtful and loving we all are of each other.

Many of us seek to create Christmas after the images we have in our minds’ eye of what this holy time means to us. 

But then there comes reality, perhaps what Christmas has become will be just a bit different for many of us. Many of the family we celebrated with in those days are no longer with us. Thankfully, we tend to forget the hurt and the conflict that left us out of communion with one another. Some of us will be alone. There is fear and poverty, and a few too many dislike others for one reason or another. I do wish Christmas could be perfect like it is in my mind’s eye. But, truth be told, Christmas is real.

There was one Christmas that was both perfect and real!

Especially real and absolutely perfect was that first Christmas, we read about it in the tonight’s Gospel. Our homes are warm, but in that holiest of holy places, there were barnyard animals, and God’s greatest Gift to the world was placed on a bed of hay where these same animals eat. That’s what the word “manger’ means after all. In French the word “manger” means “to eat”. In Italian “mange, mange” means “eat, eat!”. 

There was no room for this Child and his family in any local Inn where it might be cozy and warm. There were no hospitals, no midwives to minister to the Mother of God. Still they huddled close for warmth. Bethlehem gets cold at this time of year. It can even snow there. I would not be the bit least surprised if God’s living beings could see their breath on this most holy night. 

Included in the reality of this Holy Family is the fact that Mary and Joseph were “engaged” or “betrothed” as the Old English would have it. Jesus was born to us without the benefit of wedlock. Matthew’s Gospel records Joseph’s concerns about our Lady’s honor. But then the dream that came to him reassured Joseph of God’s decision to make this birth the instrument of God somehow becoming Flesh and Blood among us. (~Matthew 1:1-23)

Whatever the case, they had to make haste and get to the city of Joseph’s “house and lineage” where he could be recorded for the census. Nothing but death is more certain and real than taxes! And so it was that this family of modest means made their way by night to the little town of Bethlehem. 

We are told that the journey was a dangerous one. There was Herod and his murderous threats. The Family travelled by night. A star appeared to guide them on their way. And then, in the fullness of time the Child was born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes to keep him as warm as she could. She held him close to bond her love to his. No matter how deeply we dig down into the Mystery of this birth narrative we cannot help but be filled with the Hope, Love, Joy and Peace of Christmas The vision of that Mother and Child has moved the world then and since to the Gospel of Jesus; his life, death, and resurrection, and his victory over sin and death.

The angels sang when they told the shepherds of the news. They too made haste to see this thing that had come to pass. And so it was that all of heaven and earth would sing. 

In my mind’s eye, this is really where my gaze comes to rest. Not so much in the comfort and warmth of my own home but in the reality and perfection of God’s coming to us in the Word of God made flesh and blood in Jesus. 

I think it right that he would be born in a “manger” where the animals could not help but take a taste of hay. Very likely Mary and Joseph would gladly feed them. After all, the animals were hungry too. And Mary and Joseph being grateful for this humble place to birth a child, would only be too happy to share what little they had with the animals who gave them what warmth they could generate.

Christmas makes us all hungry for good things to eat. My grandmother’s squash pie, I can almost smell it still! The oven bursting with turkey, the turkey bursting with stuffing and all the fixings. The dishes laden with food. The family gathered passing it all around, and me stuffing my plate   and my stomach beyond its capacity to hold it all. The memory is all so holy.

And then the long and luxurious afternoons where the women played cards and gossiped in the kitchen and the men would sleep in the parlor. My brother Bobby and I playing with trucks or troops and when there was a loud noise which there was bound to be, one of the uncles would growl at us to be quiet. We’d snicker and comply for a bit. But then it would happen all over again. It was Christmas!

This was all a long time ago for me. But many more will rehearse the family traditions all over again this year. Others celebrate Christmas in their own peculiar and unique way. But it all began a very long time ago when the greatest gift of all was given on one very silent and holy night far, far away. 

And my soul sings with joy to this old world because of what I remember in profound gratitude for the life God gives me and the family that made me who I am. 

And tonight God’s Table is laden with good things to eat. Perhaps it only looks like a little wafer broken by an old semi-retired priest and a cup of ordinary wine. But we gather too around this table and hold out our hands to receive this Child born anew tonight in our souls. 

This Bread and this Wine is more than all our Christmas Tables put end to end from one generation to another for as long as humankind has feasted in all our holidays rolled up into one. This is God’s very Banquet Table. And all of us, from the first days of our redemption until now and yet to come are welcome and invited! 

This Bread and this Wine we receive tonight was born in a manger a long time ago and far away. He fills us with good things, his very life born for us in flesh and blood like everything that is real about him and us. Jesus fills us with Eternal Life.

My soul sings with joy to this old world because of what I know of this little Child and his mother dear. For Joseph, the carpenter, and the donkey standing near. The cattle lowing and the rooster crowing. 

And the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The Perfect Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

In the Name of God, the Most Holy, Undivided, and Everlasting Trinity. Amen.

Fr Paul

The Winnowing Fork

The Winnowing Fork

Please allow me to thank you for your invitation to spend the remainder of this Advent Season, Christmas, and even into Epiphany to be with you. Together with joy let us set forth the Word of God and Celebrate the Sacrament of Christ’s Presence among us. I am delighted to be with you particularly at this time of year.

Allow me to introduce my wife, Cindy. We met each other not far from here in Hyde Park 38 years ago while I was serving at Christ Church. And we are delighted to be in Dorchester where two of our sons were born at the old St. Margaret’s Hospital over on Cushing Avenue. 

Cindy and I have been married 37 years now. We have three grown sons. Our first born, David lives nearby and attends St. Mary’s Church. Our second married recently and lives in Charlotte and our youngest lives in San Francisco. I have been ordained 44 years and have served congregations in this Diocese, in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. I “retired”, after a fashion, 10 years ago this Christmas and in my retirement I have served as interim and “bridge” priest wherever and however the church  needed. I like writing particularly on issues of Congregational Development. I thank God for all these wonderful blessings. And I thank God for you. You are a blessing to one another and to the church as today’s Epistle says; “May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another.”

In this very special Advent season we prepare for the birth of the Holy Child. There is a note of urgency in our preparation. We hear it in the voice of John the Baptist in today’s Gospel as he enters onto the stage of sacred history with these words;

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

Prepare ye the way of the Lord,

Make his pathways straight”

We are to make room in our hearts for the Birth of this Holy Child, as John reminds us again with that same note of urgency;

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”

This Kingdom is indeed near, it is at hand. In fact it has already arrived. It is within you. Again and and again, Jesus uses these words “near”, “at hand”, “within”, and “among” to describe the location of the Kingdom of God. His winnowing fork is already in his hand.

We needn’t wait until we die to live it. Nor do we await some cataclysmic event to occur, as some claim, when the earth and the heavens shall pass away. No, dear friends. God’s Kingdom is here, within and among us. That is why it is a matter of urgency that we prepare our hearts to receive The Child again this Christmas.

We are to repent. That is to say, we are to become something “new” again for God in the same way that God is always becoming something “new” to us. We are to undergo a “complete makeover”. I imagine that there are some of you who like those TV shows where they are always gutting out and making over somebody’s home. Don’t you wish you had the wherewithal to do all that you might dream of doing in the home in which you dwell? O well, in the meantime we make do with what we have. 

The dwelling place of which the Scripture speaks, however, is within the human heart. Here is where we can make the kind of metamorphosis that John and Jesus want, right here, within our hearts. When John uses that word “repent” he uses a Greek word “metanoia” which means “a complete makeover”. Much like a grub undergoes a metamorphosis from its cocoon to become a magnificent butterfly, so too we are invited by John and Jesus to make our hearts new again. In point of fact one of the images the early church used to signify who we are to become is the butterfly. Where we now put a cross, the early church often put a butterfly, a very beautiful one, like a Monarch Butterfly. 

Which reminds me, do you have any idea how beautiful you are in God’s eyes? How magnificent? As Shakespeare described humankind 

“What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason,
how infinite in faculties, in form and moving,
how express and admirable in action, how like an angel,

in apprehension, how like a god!” 

~Hamlet; II,2.

And Michelangelo, when he looked at a block of marble, he did not see a formless hunk of stone, he saw the potential for an angel. Imagine the exquisite shill of the sculptor working on the rough corners of your soul to make of you something beautiful for God! Jesus is your sculptor! 

The Holy Child is soon to be born for us. We have now lit the second candle of the Advent Wreath a candle that represents Love; not just a love of God and of one another, it is the love we are commanded to have in our hearts and souls for ourselves. The second of the two Great Commandments is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Notice please that the second commandment is to Love your neighbor "as" you do yourself. It does not say "instead" of yourself” but “as” yourself, that is to say, in like manner.

There are distractions to be sure. There is the incessant “jingle” of “Christmas” bells and piped in music in all the stores and the hectic pace we keep this time of year. There is the din of the news much of which portends ill for many of us and the nations of the earth. This is a danger and a distraction to the proper nourishment of our souls. 

It is an urgent matter for us is take quiet time and prayer to be with God as we prepare our hearts to be present to the Holy Spirit. 

In today’s first lesson the prophet reminds us that a little child born of the root of Jesse, shall come among us. Furthermore “he shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth”.

Just for the record, the biblical narrative repeats the theme of Justice  time and again. Today, for instance the Psalmist says; 

“He shall defend the needy among the people; 

he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.

He shall live as long as the sun and moon endure.”

Not only is our Advent preparation urgent, it is also clear that God will judge justly for the poor, and will hold the oppressor accountable for any and all oppression. With his fierce and urgent voice John says; “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Be forewarned ye leaders of the world and within our own nation. Repent!

I don’t want to be on the wrong side of God's winnowing fork, do you? Imagine how it would go over if you were the one by whom 20 million people were denied health care! The Gospel, as Jesus says, is indeed sharper than any two edged sword.

Advent waiting is anything but passive. Advent waiting is full of expectation and urgent preparation, much like any expectant mother awaiting the birth of her child. There is much to be done before the moment arrives. 

We have much to do as we await the Birth of the Holy Child this year. Our souls await a complete makeover so that you and I can become the hands and feet of Jesus in and for the sake of the world we live in. In order to repent as John and Jesus would have us repent we will need to undergo such a transformation as will make each of us something very beautiful for God indeed. That transformation is not just a personal one it has its social dimension as well. I would be less than candid if I did not say that I am concerned about any nation, especially our own, when it turns its back on the needy and the poor, the outcast, the sick and the lame. You and I may have to prepare ourselves for further action as we move into the next chapter of our nation’s history.

Teresa of Avila the 16th Century Christian Mystic writes;

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” 

Jesus will come again this year and when he comes all people will be invited to find hope, love, joy, and peace in him, just like Advet words proclaim. God help anyone who prevents the hope, love, joy and peace of God from justly extending to all without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, class, gender or orientation. We seek to be what Jesus lived and died for. We are to become more and more "A house of prayer for all people". Even now the winnowing fork is in his hand!

We seek to be among those on whom God’s favor rests, during this Holy Season of urgent expectation. My prayer for all is the same as the Scripture proclaims on this Second Sunday of Advent.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

In the Name of God, the most holy, undivided, and everlasting Trinity.

Fr Paul.